


We're All Trying Our Best

by BluebirdWrites



Category: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Video Game), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Age of Calamity gave them so much parent energy that I literally had to do this, But with a pinch of angst. for flavour, Everyone Needs A Hug, Family Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Implied Relationships, Is it unrequited love or is Link just dense? No one knows. Least of all me, Parental Figure Daruk, Parental Figure Urbosa (Legend of Zelda), Spoilers for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Team as Family, listen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29988462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluebirdWrites/pseuds/BluebirdWrites
Summary: Surprisingly, it wasn't their champion's titles or jobs piloting the Divine Beasts that gave Daruk and Urbosa the most to worry about.Moblins? A cakewalk.Lynels? Not a problem.Trying to keep a ragtag group of self-sacrificing teenagers from getting hurt? That was another story.Or, a collection of moments where Urbosa and Daruk are Good Parents to the rest of the champions.
Relationships: Daruk & Everyone, Daruk & Link & Mipha & Revali & Urbosa & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Urbosa & Everyone
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	1. Riju

**Author's Note:**

> I got age of calamity for christmas and it had so many good Parent Moments for Daruk and Urbosa that the horrible little gears in my brain started turning. Next thing I knew, I'd made this.
> 
> And finally, these are the small things I wanted to go over in advance:
> 
> \- A few tws for injury mentions are in order, but I'll put them in the notes of their respective chapters for you guys.  
> \- While there won't be any outright romantic content, there are a few moments that could be interpreted as Link/Zelda or Mipha/Revali if you actively looked for it, and a few mentions of one-sided Link/Mipha. That aside, this is entirely a self-indulgent gen fic shfhd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Riju won’t accept her own limits, the usually larger-than-life champion Daruk reveals his crafty side to convince the tiny chief to cut herself a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you know that mission in Age of Calamity that ends with Urbosa calling Yunobo a pebble and then basically adopting him? My whole inspiration for this first one-shot was just my brain going 'what if that but in reverse' so now here we are. Also Riju's a babie zooming around a battlefield, so it's only natural that she'd set off Parent Alarms for both Urbosa and Daruk.

Why she’d agreed to this mission, Riju would never know.

It had seemed simple enough on paper: four of them would rendezvous with Link and Zelda at the trailhead, then make their way back up the tiny mountain road to the outpost that the other four were defending against monsters. But not even halfway down the mountain, things had then gone horribly, horribly wrong. Monsters were attacking from all sides and since there was no way to contact Teba, Sidon, Yunobo, or Lady Urbosa for reinforcements, the party she was with spent most of the first day in the mountains alternating between fighting against hordes of monsters and fleeing for their lives. Several hours in, she could already feel her body starting to rail against the harsh conditions. 

Still, people were counting on her. Trying to shake off the exhaustion, she slashed through another wave of lizalfos readying to charge at the group traveling back from a mountaintop outpost. Just a little further, she chided herself. She only had to keep going until they reached the foot of the valley, and then there would be time to rest. 

That was when the hinox showed up. 

Riju’s whole body ached and her tired limbs begged for a break, so naturally, the hinox fixed its greedy stare on her as though she was a particularly juicy steak. With a grunt, the beast slammed its fist into the snowy ground and ripped a massive pine out of the earth. It hurled the impromptu weapon towards her, and she only just managed to dodge before the felled tree slammed into the sheer cliff face and blocked off the path that master Revali and lady Mipha had traveled down a scarce few moments ago. She was trapped, exhausted, and alone with a very hungry hinox. 

This wasn’t going to be fun. 

“Oi, ugly!”

The hinox yelped as a hot ball of magma collided with its head. When she saw it teetering towards the edge, an idea popped into her head. “Patricia!” 

Her noble steed arrived at her side and Riju charged towards the cliff. A nudge or two from Patricia was all she needed to send the hinox toppling over and plummeting off of a two-hundred-foot drop. Lord Daruk rolled to a stop beside her to peer over the drop-off and admire her handiwork. “Nice going, tiny chief,” he praised when he saw the dissolving pile of malice where the monster had been. 

“Thank you, lord Daruk,” she panted. No sooner had she finished her sentence before the fatigue caught up with her. Feeling a little like she’d been dragged across the desert behind a molduga, she tried to stifle a yawn. 

“Woah there,” lord Daruk caught her by the arm before she could collapse into the snow. “You need a minute? You look dead on your feet.” 

“I’m fine!” Riju insisted. Once again, she failed to hide the exhaustion bogging down her whole body, stumbling a little from the dizziness that fatigue had caused. “We just need to move that tree out of the way, then we can get a move on.” 

From the look on his face, the great Daruk wasn’t buying her story. Even Patricia looked doubtful somehow. 

Then, he shrugged. “Suit yourself. But personally-“ he made a show of rolling out his arm and wincing. “-I’m bushed. Goron shoulder acting up and all.”

“Goron shoulder?” Riju echoed in confusion.

“Yep, Goron Shoulder!” Daruk confirmed. “Pretty serious stuff. I’ll probably have to sit down for a bit so it can rest.”

He set about gathering branches and logs from the scattering of trees knocked over during the Hinox’s rampage and soon enough, a cozy fire was burning in one of the tiny crags that ice had carved into the side of the mountains. He patted the ground beside the fire. “Mind keeping me company?” 

“Are you sure it’s alright? What if the others need help?”

“They’ll be fine. If anything tries to get close, I reckon it’ll just give Revali a chance to show off.”

The idea made her snort. Somehow, all she could picture was the prickly Rito champion posturing for a very confused pack of bokoblins. “I suppose I could sit for a few minutes. Just while your Goron shoulder recovers.”

“I owe ya one, kiddo,” Daruk said when she sat down next to the fire. He skewered a Hyrule bass -where had he even found that?- and set it up next to the fire to roast. 

The smell of cooking fish made her stomach howl in protest, reminding her that she’d had nothing to eat since leaving the outpost that morning. Unfortunately, the only things in her pouch were a few empty elixir bottles, the thunderhelm, and a single stamella shroom that Patricia had turned up her nose at. Not exactly the makings of a five-star meal. Goddesses, she was hungry all of a sudden. 

As she broke the mushroom into pieces big enough to cook over the fire, Riju felt a tap on her shoulder. Daruk offered her the skewered fish and returned to the spot where he'd been watching for monsters, uncharacteristically silent as he did. 

She tilted her head quizically. “But don’t you need to eat?”

“Nah,” he shook his head and tossed a few more branches into the fire pit. “I won’t miss it, there’s plenty of meat on these bones.” 

It was clear she wasn’t going to win this one, so she stuck a few pieces of mushroom onto the stick and let it toast over the open flame. She felt a little guilty about stealing food from a champion of all people, but all of that was forgotten the second she sank her teeth into the first bite. Quick as a flash, she’d ravenously picked the whole skewer clean. 

Now, she was full, the fire was comfortably warm, and her eyes were growing heavy. Exhausted, Riju curled up beside the heat of the fire and let herself drift off to sleep. 

When she awoke, the sun was beginning to disappear behind the foothills and Daruk was whistling as he picked up the felled tree blocking the path and tossed it aside. Feeling bleary but well rested, she stretched to banish the last dregs of sleepiness from her mind. 

“Good to see you up and about again tiny chief!” Daruk greeted as she doused the fire with an armful of snow. “You ready to roll?”

As they continued down the winding pass through the mountains, Riju was struck by two things:

One: Gorons ate rocks. Certainly not fish or mushrooms. 

Two: for someone suffering from debilitating Goron shoulder, Daruk certainly hadn’t had an issue hauling a tree that was easily four times his size with one hand. 

“Lord Daruk?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“I get the feeling that your Goron shoulder wasn’t the real reason you wanted to stop.”

He laughed. “Well, ya caught me. I was feelin’ fine the whole time.”

“Then why?” Riju asked with a look of bewilderment.

“Well tiny chief, when you’ve been in the game as long as I have, it gets pretty easy to spot who needs a break. Or in your case; who needs a break, some grub, and a good nap. And ya certainly weren’t gonna stop for your own sake.”

There was still one thing she didn’t get. “So then what was the point in making up an injury like that?”

He laughed again, a big and boisterous sound that made her feel like laughing too. “There are five other champions and four of em pull that same ‘I can keep going’ schtick at least once a week. I had to pick up a few tricks if I wanted to keep them alive. The injury one’s a classic, never fails.”

“Lord Daruk, I’m not sure I understand-“

“I’m trying to keep Link from charging a lynel on two hours of sleep, but there are four Links.”

She understood completely. 

“But still,” she continued. “You didn’t have to do all that. I’m not some weak little child.”

“Nah, ‘course you aren’t,” he agreed with an easy chuckle. “But you are a kid on a battlefield. You’re gonna get tired and need help: doesn’t make you any less strong.”

His words caught her attention. “You think I’m strong?” The Great Daruk, champion of the Gorons, thinking she was strong. It sounded like something Teake would say to convince her not to slack off during combat training. 

“Strong as they come!” Daruk replied, ruffling her hair a little. “There’s a good head on your shoulders, tiny chief. I’ll bet you kick butt at just about anything. You definitely did great today.”

Riju wasn’t sure why the praise made her feel as giddy as it did, but when night fell and they finally reached the spot where Master Revali and lady Mipha had made camp for the night, she was still beaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *realizes how much of my writing is about a father figure acknowledging his kid is stressed but still being proud of what they did accomplish* Huh, wonder if that means anything about me.


	2. Yunobo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a struggle with monsters delays their return to the castle; the champions make camp for the night and Urbosa lends a hand to a very nervous pebble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lightning mom and her new son who's literally a rock are one of the best things to emerge from the time-traveling whatsits in AoC in my humble opinion. It's just a very pure dynamic.

"They're retreating!" Impa shouted, retrieving her kodachi from the pile of ancient parts where a guardian had just been standing. 

There was a universal sigh of relief. The last fight had taken a lot out of everyone, and the thought of a chance to rest was tempting. 

Lady Urbosa clapped her hands briskly, and everyone turned to her almost instantly. "Right!" Urbosa barked. "We're a decent ways from the castle and at least half of you look too exhausted to hold your own heads up. I say we break here for the night and continue on in the morning."

There really wasn't much objection to that idea. Even the princess, who usually pushed herself so far beyond her own limits, seemed ready to call it a day. Like a sergeant issuing orders to her troops, Urbosa continued. "Now, we'll all need to do some of the work if we want to finish quickly. Let's hurry, or it'll be dark before we're done setting up camp."

Everyone broke off to set up camp for the night. Lord Daruk and Prince Sidon began pitching shelters. Lady Mipha dove into the lake in search of fish. Princess Zelda and Impa scoured for edible herbs and mushrooms with the little guardian scurrying behind them. Link and Master Revali set off in search of meat. Teba took to the skies to watch for any nearby monsters while lady Urbosa kept watch from below. That left Riju and Yunobo to gather firewood. It wasn't as boring as it sounded, really. He'd never actually seen trees at home -the few that could stubbornly cling to life in the maw of Death mountain looked more like charred logs than anything else- and it was nice to have someone closer to his own age to talk to. He was about to head into the little patch of trees when lady Urbosa called out to him. 

"Come here for a moment, pebble. I need to speak with you."

Yunobo panicked for a moment. Had he done something wrong? Was this about getting cornered by that wizzrobe yesterday? Did she know that he knew that Link really got that black eye when he crashed into a tree while shield surfing?

  
  
"I can see you making arrangements for your own funeral in there," lady Urbosa drawled with a touch of amusement. "You aren't in any trouble. I just have something I want to ask you."

With one last glance at an equally puzzled Riju, he trudged towards the spot where the Gerudo champion had set up a circle of stones to mark off the firepit. "Uh, you wanted something, lady Urbosa, ma'am?" Yunobo stammered with his stare rooted firmly on the grass under them.

"That I did. You were having difficulty against that Moblin earlier. Did it manage to hit you?"

"No it didn't lady Urbosa," he fibbed.

"I see," she hummed as her sharp eyes scanned the fidgety young Goron. "So it's just a coincidence that you've been favouring your right side since?" He didn't say a word, but that was an answer in itself. Urbosa nodded sagely. "Thought so. Can you show me how bad it is?" Yunobo lifted his arm a little and she leaned over to examine the injury. "Well, that looks painful," she hissed through her teeth when she saw the angry wound left by the Moblin's hefty claymore.

Now that Urbosa had said it -and he'd actually let himself think about the gash that stupid Moblin had given him- yeah it was painful. As in, he-suddenly-really-wanted-to-scream painful. 

"Damn brutes swing their swords around so hard," she muttered under her breath. "You should count yourself lucky that thing didn't cut you clean in half."

"Is it bad? Am I gonna die? Oh man, oh man, oh man, I don't wanna die yet!"

"Calm down," she soothed with a laugh. "I imagine it would take more than a nick like this to do in a mighty pebble like yourself. Now-" she got to her feet and began rifling through her pack for something. "-I'm no healer like Mipha, but I should be able to patch this up until she can take a look."

She pulled a small satchel out of her pack. Setting it on the ground beside her, Urbosa took out a roll of gauze, a tiny jar wrapped with a bit of green ribbon, and a vial of some sort. Then, she turned back to the task at hand. "Don't bite your tongue," was her advice as she poured the harsh-smelling contents of the vial onto a rag. "This is going to hurt."

"What's going to hurt?" Yunobo asked warily. He got his answer a few moments later when she began dabbing at the wound and the stinging sensation forced a very unheroic yelp out of him.

"It's definitely unpleasant," she agreed when he flinched at the disinfectant. "But it's still better than an infection. Besides! I'm just about done this part."

Despite the initial sting, the biting pain from the Moblin's sword started to numb. "Woah, it's feeling a bit better already!" he observed with a touch of awe. "Usually we Gorons are such slow healers!"

"That's the magic of rubbing alcohol, a fresh bandage, and commander Aisha's top-secret pain salve recipe!" Urbosa laughed. "I'd be happy to show you the basics sometimes. After all, you never know when you'll need to patch up a wound on the battlefield."

"You'd teach me this stuff?" Yunobo asked eagerly. "Wow, thank you!"

Nonplussed, Urbosa continued. Her steady hands cleaned the gash and carefully bound it with a gauze dressing despite the winces of her patient. "There we go," she announced as she corked the vial and disposed of the rag. "You did well, all things considered. I remember when I was a young recruit getting my injuries treated, I started screaming bloody murder."

"You? But you're lady Urbosa!" Yunobo exclaimed in disbelief. "You're all cool and strong and collected and stuff!"

"Why thank you," she said. "But no one is immune to losing their composure every now and then." 

The idea made him feel a little less embarrassed about how squeamish he was. For someone who could be sent running for the hills by a few bokoblins, it was comforting in a way to hear someone as brave as lady Urbosa say that. "Well uh, thanks for patching me up," he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he thanked her. 

"It was my pleasure, young pebble," she replied with a smile. "But don't you think you should return to your chores now? Poor Riju probably won't want to haul all that firewood by herself."

"Oh, yeah! Right!" he dashed off to where Riju was loading tinder into a modified basket on Patricia's harness. Maybe Urbosa was imagining it, but he seemed just slightly more confident the rest of the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized while writing this chapter that I don't actually know if Gorons bleed or not. On the one hand, they're rock people, but on the other, they can get injured so it's possible, right?? In the end, Google was no help, so I decided to embrace the age-old fandom tradition of just going with whatever fits the scenario in my head best while being just vague enough that it could go either way.

**Author's Note:**

> Before I go, I feel the need to inform u all that my working title for this fic was literally "the adventures of Mumbosa and Dadruk"


End file.
